It's Where my Demons Hide
by swimmergirl103
Summary: Deaths have occurred in Autumn Parrie's small town. Now the unknown murder is after her. But after a series of events, the hunger for her life is replaced by a hunger for her love. But who will make the mistake that breaks them apart first, the beauty or the beast?
1. Different

It's Where My Demons Hide

Different

Autumn Parrie sat at one of the tables at the local diner. Her coffee sat untouched in front of her and the chicken and dumplings had one bite taken out of it. It wasn't that the food wasn't good or anything, The Neighborhood Diner (original, don't you think?) had the best food she'd tasted in her little sanctuary town of Arcadia, Ohio.

But what was really capturing her attention was the paper she was reading. Ever since she was a little girl, she had wanted to be a reporter, and she ate the stories fed to her by magazines, newspapers, even fiction books up.

There had been murders in her little town. She almost thought it was a different paper when she first saw it, the worst thing that ever happened in Arcadia was someone not helping their neighbor pick up their leaves in the fall. But there it was, on the front page. Two victims had their lives taken from them. Each one was very gruesome. The first had been found torn to shreds almost unrecognizable by claws or teeth. The second was found with her throat ripped out and was caught in branches by the river. There had been no sightings of anything, no suspicious characters and whatnot. The authorities said it was either wolves or a mad dog and that they were going to capture it before any more people were harmed, but Autumn was not fooled. She had this sense that the police would never fully capture whatever, or whoever, was causing the deaths.

"Are you done here miss?" a polite waiter motioned to her food.

"Oh, um, yeah, thank you." She took five dollars out of her little bag and gave it to him.

"Thank you Miss. You may want to get home before the sun sets, with that killer dog still out there."

"Thanks for the advice, I'll try." She said sweetly, but secretly she wanted to get caught by whatever it was so she could figure out what it really was.

With a swish of her dark brown hair and a glint of her gray eyes, she swept up the paper and made her way to the door, paying for her meal on the way, barely noticing the dark figure in the corner get up abruptly and follow her.

When she was well out of sight of the diner, Autumn shivered and pulled her brown coat closer to her body. Being a pretty eighteen year old girl walking home alone, she tried to wear things that wouldn't attract too much attention.

She heard a rustle behind her and she whipped around, seeing a figure running at an amazingly fast speed in the distance.

She wondered who they were, but she got the feeling they were dangerous. Then it hit her. The murderer.

_Don't panic, do what mom always told you, walk up to a house like you're home. They'll most likely know you and let you inside._

Heart pumping in her ears, she walked up the steps to the nearest house and rang the doorbell. She looked down the street. The figure had cut the distance in half and was getting close. She saw piercing red eyes locked on her from under a black hoodie.

The door opened to a surprised Mr. Duncan.

"Why hello Autumn! It's a nice surprise seeing you here."

"Um, Mr. Duncan? Do you mind if I step inside a moment?" He stepped aside and she darted in, slamming the door behind her.

She peered out the glass on the side and she saw a black figure standing at the bottom of the stairs, glaring at her with the red eyes with its hands stuffed inside the hoodie pocket.

She shivered and leaned against the door.

"I must have been shaken up with the deaths."

"Yes, it was a surprise to all of us. Each were very young, 15 and 23. The first young girl, Mallory Garner, I don't suppose you know her?" She shook her head. "Anyways, she was the 15 year old. The 23 year old was Elizabeth Jane. Nice pretty young woman. I suspect it's the young'uns they're after."

She stared at Mr. Duncan. "You-you don't believe it's a wolf or dog or whatever?"

"Missy, dogs can't kidnap people from their homes. They can't completely smash a door. The police tell the people only what the people ought to know."

It made sense. At least to Autumn it did. But she knew people were slightly unsure about the 49 year old man's sanity. But that was only because when he moved into the town a few years back, he had been ranting on and on about angels, demons, and something called a nephilim. He eventually calmed down and settled comfortably in his little house on Maple St.

There was a crash outside and Mr. Duncan's eyes got wide.

"Autumn, come with me right now." He sounded very urgent and led her into the kitchen. He got to a drawer and unlocked it, pulling out two sharp looking objects with weird looking designs on them.

"Autumn, I'm going to give this to you. It is called a seraph blade, a Shadowshunter weapon. It is very dangerous. Only use it when the situation calls for it, you'll know those situations. It will be like any other blade unless you call its name. Its name is Eremiel. Call it now."

Autumn looked at it and even though it sounded lame, she said weakly, "Eremiel." It did nothing.

"More power, it will only serve the worthy of its use."

"Eremiel!" Autumn almost shouted. There was another crash outside.

"Sanvi!" whispered Mr. Duncan. The sound of the door crashing open made Mr. Duncan pull Autumn behind him. A sort of hiss sounded from the living room, then police sirens sounded outside and a crash signaling a window breaking.

Footsteps approached the kitchen.

"Mr. Duncan? Are you alright?" Police Officers Missy Arlin and Fred Kringler stepped into the kitchen.

"You can put the knives down. It's alright." Autumn looked down and was surprised to see a kitchen knife in her hands. They lowered them.

"Autumn? What are you doing here?"

"I-I was being chased by someone so I came into Mr. Duncan's house to protect me."

"Well, it's good you did. The front door is smashed and the window is shattered. Autumn, I would advise you don't walk home alone from now on. Another girl was found today. May Springfield, age 17."

Autumn had stopped listening though. She had known May. She was one of her childhood friends. She went to the Arcadia High School. She was a junior while Autumn was a senior. They had lost contact and weren't very good friends anymore.

"What happened?"

"Teeth marks all over her body. Mangled and bloody scene that no one could see. I really suspect that whatever is doing this is going for girls in their late teens. You need to watch out for yourself."

"Come on Autumn, we'll drive you home." Missy said.

The car ride home was thoughtful and quiet. When they arrived at her house, the officers said their farewell words and were off.

Autumn stood there for a moment and her heart nearly stopped when she spied a pair of piercing red eyes staring at her from across the street. She stepped into her house and went to her phone. She dialed a number long known to her and waited for the other line to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Becky, do you want to come over tonight?"

…

_Well, that's the first chapter. Who wants to know who Becky is? She may be beyond what you imagine. _

_Grace be with you,_

_Leeanne_


	2. Explain, Please

2. Hunted, but Never Caught

…

_Autumn stood there for a moment and her heart nearly stopped when she spied a pair of piercing red eyes staring at her from across the street. She stepped into her house and went to her phone. She dialed a number long known to her and waited for the other line to pick up._

"_Hello?"_

"_Hey Becky, do you want to come over tonight?"_

….

Autumn sat in a ball of pure tension with Eremial clutched tightly in her hand. She stared at the closed door expecting it to burst open to reveal the red-eyed person. She was jolted out of her trance by the sound of a knock on the door. Autumn went up and peeped through the peephole. She was greeted by the sight of blond curls pulled into a ponytail and a pair of amber eyes. Autumn gave an audible sigh of relief and opened the door.

"Becky, you made it."

"Well I only live two blocks away." She said.

She stepped inside and took her hunting coat off. But halfway between hanging it up, her eyes dilated and she raised her head.

"Hold on a second." She looked out the still open door and her eyes seemed to scan everywhere before she shut it.

"You haven't had any trouble with that murderer, have you? You have to tell me, it's important."

"Why do you need to know?" Autumn asked cautiously.

"Please, I need to know, for reasons that you wouldn't understand." Becky sounded urgent.

"Yes, I think I have. I was walking home today and it chased me. I walked into Mr. Duncan's house."

"Is that where you got your seraph blade?" Becky motioned toward the object in her Autumn's hand. Autumn looked down and wasn't surprised to see it was a blade again.

"Yes. How did you know it was a seraphity blade?" Becky sighed and ran her hand over the top of her head.

"Seraph blade, you mean." Becky corrected her but ignored the rest of the question.

"Autumn, you really don't know what's happening. You could see it. This is bad. Like, really bad." She put an emphasis on really.

"Ok, if I don't what's happening, do you mind telling me what the heck is going on? Because I am seriously freaking out right now. Everything is wacked up and I'm being chased by this murderer slash thing that I don't know what is and everything I've ever known is being torn to shreds by old men giving me blades with names and my best friend acting like she's from a different world!" Autumn was breathing heavy. Tears started to well up at her eyes. "I don't know what's going on. All this in a single night, I don't know how I got into this situation in the first place! But whatever it is, I want out of it."

Becky led her over to the couch gently.

"Well, you're already in it whether you want to or not and there really isn't a way out. I'm sorry. The only thing I can do is try to explain everything best I can."

"What is there to explain?!"

"I'm getting to that! Be patient. Ok, where to start. Ummm, well, you can see past glamour. Which conceals the true creature. Like this murderer, he's actually a demon."

"So I'm being hunted by a mythical dark creature?"

"Yeah, not mythical however. There are a lot of things that are pegged mythical but are actually real, they're just from a different dimension. If that makes any sense. And there are these people called shadowhunters. Have you ever wondered where your parents are?"

The truth was that Autumn didn't wonder at all. On her eighteenth birthday 9 months ago, they had disappeared, leaving the house and all the possessions into her care. No more craziness for her. Or so she thought.

"Well, that's what they were. Do you remember on your 10 birthday, that mark that appeared? Well, that was the mark of a shadowhunter. How they ignored it, I have no idea. But you weren't scouted and trained. Autumn, you were born a shadowhunter. I don't know why your parents didn't train you."

"Well, actually, if you call unexpectedly throwing kitchen knives at you, putting you on roofs expecting you to climb down when you were 6, and leaving you alone for days at a time, then yes, they did. If they weren't training me, then that was just bad parenting."

"Autumn, trust me, they were doing it for you."

"Well, I guess I should thank them, wherever they are, for making my childhood a horror film."

"Autumn, was it not your mom's advice that saved you in the first place?" Autumn didn't answer. "If you wonder where they are, they're on a special mission for the Clave. They were supposed to go a year ago, but they requested to stay until…" Becky trailed off, her eyes fixed at something on Autumn's shoulder.

"That-that mark. I've never seen it before."

"Mark? What mark?" Autumn looked at her shoulder.

"That one right there. It looks like the faded ink color of a shadowhunter mark. But I've never seen a mark like that before."

"Well, I don't even know what a mark is."

"It's what shadowhunters use for fighting and defense and stuff like that."

"If you're wondering where it came from, I've had it since I was born."

"It must be some sort of concealment mark. Maybe that's why the Clave didn't track you down. You were never put into the records. Your parents hid you from their world."

"Who exactly is the Clave?"

"They're basically the government of the shadowhunter world, except for it's not only the shadowhunter's world."

"Oh, so there are more things in this 'world'?"

"Yes. Werewolves, vampires, fairies, and a lot of other things. The Clave is made up of representatives from each."

"So do they keep track of every shadowhunter there is?"

"Yes. You don't exist in my world." Becky sounded awed.

"Wait, _your_ world?"

"Yes, Autumn. My world. I'm kind of a werewolf."


End file.
